This invention relates to grippers, and more particularly to an adjustable gripper having both a relatively long and a relatively short stroke.
Automatic grippers are often used for the assembly of electronic circuits. In particular, grippers are known for inserting axial leaded devices such as resistors into printed circuit boards. In known gripping apparatus, the leads of such axial leaded electronic components may be crushed when a standard gripper is allowed to close on them. For this reason, standard grippers are not well suited for handling axial leaded electronic components. Furthermore, standard grippers often cannot operate in tight areas because of the standard gripper's excessive stroke length.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide gripping apparatus capable of handling axial leaded electronic components without crushing the leads.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide gripping apparatus which can be utilized where space is tight.
Still another object of the present invention is gripping apparatus which utilizes standard components and which is simple and easy to manufacture and use.